It is well known that conventional engine valves provided as a structural member of vehicle engines or the like are manufactured by using, for example, one of various Fe-based alloy powders including one described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 92494/1990 as a coating material on a valve face of an engine valve body formed of heat resistant steel or stainless steel, i.e., a surface which is brought into contact with a valve seat and where locally high wear resistance is required, and by welding the Fe based alloy powder by plasma arc coating or laser beam coating.
On the other hand, the development of motor vehicles having higher power and higher traveling speeds has been promoted in recent years. The engines of such motor vehicles are necessarily operated at a condition at a higher temperature. Accordingly, engine valves, as an engine structural member, are exposed to an atmosphere of a higher temperature. In the case of conventional engine valves, however, the high-temperature wear resistance of the Fe-based alloy with which the valve face is coated is not high enough to limit the progress of wear of the valve face, which is accelerated under a high-temperature condition.